Defeat the Creeping Ick with Hot and Sour Soup

It’s time to play everyone’s favorite fall game…
ALLERGIES!
COLD!
FLU!
or
COVID!

Yes, that’s right, it’s time for the dreaded Creeping Ick. No matter the cause – an overactive immune system or any number of viruses – you feel yucky. When I came down with the Creeping Ick this week, all I wanted was the utterly inauthentic but completely healing hot and sour soup that my mother got out of the Dallas Morning News in the early ‘80s. It’s nothing like the real soup from the Sichuan province. It’s nothing like the classic Chinese-American soup you get in most restaurants. But it’s soooooooooo good! I guarantee that no matter how sick you are, it will make you feel better.

Ingredients

For the soup
8 ounces pork, cut into matchsticks (I use thin sliced pork loin chops… or whatever’s on sale)
4 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes
8 ounces sliced bamboo shoots, drained and sliced into matchsticks
4 ounces dried shitake or wood ear mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup hot water for 15 minutes and then sliced
3 green onions, sliced

For the broth
1 knob ginger, crushed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, more or less (really, know how much heat you want and go crazy)
1 to 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
½ cup cider vinegar, more or less (I like more – lots more!)
½ plus low sodium soy sauce

To Finish
¼ cup corn starch made into a slurry with ¼ cup water or low sodium soy sauce
2 eggs beaten with 1 teaspoon mirin
3 green onions, sliced

Directions

In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine all the ingredients for the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer as you prep the pork, tofu, bamboo shoots, and soaked mushrooms (reserving the soaking liquid). Taste the broth occasionally, and adjust the vinegar accordingly.

When you’ve finished slicing and dicing, use a slotted spoon to remove the knob of ginger and the garlic cloves from the broth. You can discard them. Add the pork, tofu, bamboo shoots, soaked mushrooms, and green onions. Add in about half of the mushroom soaking liquid. Simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Just before serving, whisk together the cornstarch slurry and pour into the simmering soup. Stir until the soup is thickened. Do the same with the eggs. Add in the green onions and serve. I promise, you will feel better almost immediately!